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ISAVASYA UPANISHAD
holds a trident and bowl.
Isa in Buddhist Literature
The changes are reflected also in the Buddhist literature as Buddhism got syncretized with the Hindu Puranic gods. By the time of Buddhaghosa (5th century Indian Theravadin Buddhist) Isa is given a seat near Sakka (spoken of as "devánam indo,") chief (or king) of the devas. (Sakka is king of both worlds, but lives in Távatimsa. Originally it was the abode of the Asuras; but when Magha was born as Sakka and dwelt with his companions in Távatimsa he disliked the idea of sharing his realm with the Asuras, and, having made them intoxicated, he hurled them down to the foot of Sineru, where the Asurabhavana was later established. (KS.i.281, n.4). The story probably is telling history which is to be deciphered yet.)
These documents were actually translated from Simhala into Pali. Hence the vocabulary themselves were the vocabulary of the 5th C AD and not of the period of Buddha.
"ca. 1000 Buddhist Era = 5th c. AD Ven. Buddhaghosa collates the various Sinhala commentaries on the Canon -- drawing primarily on the Maha Atthakatha (Great Commentary) preserved at the Mahavihara -- and translates them into Pali. This makes Sinhala Buddhist scholarship available for the first time to the entire Theravadin world and marks the beginning of what will become, in the centuries to follow, a vast body of postcanonical Pali literature. Buddhaghosa also composes his encyclopedic, though controversial, meditation manual Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification). Vens. Buddhadatta and Dhammapala write additional commentaries and sub-commentaries." Theravada Buddhism - A Chronology, Edited by John Bullitt
Digha Nikaya was compiled in the fourth or fifth century by Buddhaghosa on the basis of earlier commentaries that no longer survive.
"To students of Buddhism and Comparative Religion desirous of knowing Buddha's own views and teaching from his own words, it is extremely disconcerting to find that the Pali Canon can no longer be regarded as the actual "Word" and Doctrine of Buddha himself. It has been conclusively established by the researches of Kern, Minayef, Senart, Feer, Poussin, Lefmann, Winternitz, R. O. Franke, and others (including the writer(1)) that the Pali Canon is a mosaic of material belonging to different ages and stages in the development of Buddhism; and that the words and theories put into the mouth of Buddha therein are largely the composition of monks who lived several centuries after Buddha's death, and considerably later than was estimated by Professor H. Oldenberg.(2) Embedded thus in this mass of heterogeneous material, with no outstanding distinctive marks, it seems almost hopeless to confidently detect and dig out therefrom the pieces containing unequivocally the true Buddha-Word."
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